Tsukiko was a human Mystic Theurge who was imprisoned in the Azure City jail for "unnatural acts of wizardry". She was released by Hinjo in order to assist in The Battle of Azure City, but switched sides during the battle. She was the leader of a group of wights known as "The Black Squadron". While new to the group, she was the only member 100% loyal to Xykon with no apparent ulterior motive. She also tried flirting with Xykon: "I mean, I really LOVE the undead"*wink*

Tsukiko later betrayed Hinjo[1] and asked Xykon if she could join his side. In addition to revealing her name, she revealed she was a mystic theurge, as well as a grave robber with a large necrophiliac tendency. After healing Xykon with negative energy spells, he "hired" her for his team and sent her to Redcloak to fill paperwork, but not before ordering her to join the battle.

When Tsukiko reached Redcloak, he was reluctant to accept her to their team[2]. When she tried to follow him into the citadel, he blocked her path using a Blade Barrier spell, thus trapping her between the barrier and a Chlorine Elemental he had summoned earlier. She resorted to destroying the elemental with a shout spell, which also destroyed part of the prison, thus killing a prisoner and allowing the Linear Guild to escape.

Tsukiko met up with Redcloak and Xykon and she immediately blamed Redcloak for attempting to kill her, much to Xykon's amusement.[3] Xykon dismissed her, Redcloak suggested that she go animate some corpses. She considered animating the recently deceased Miko, but dismissed the idea when she realized she needed a whole corpse. She consoled herself by concluding that Miko would not have made a particularly powerful undead.

The Black Squadron

In the months following The Battle of Azure City, Tsukiko became the leader of her own group of wights, which she named "The Black Squadron", as seen in Security Deposit. It is revealed in subsequent comics that she was familiar with Haley's resistance movement, and had probably encountered her before.

While Belkar and Thanh were battling the wights, Tsukiko intervened and successfully casted Dominate Person on Thanh. She then used his control over her to lure Haley from her hideout. Tsukiko revealed she has been studying new, non-core spells which would be harder for Haley to avoid, and successfully hit her (and threw her out of the panel) using an Electric Orb spell.

Haley is forced to run away. Belkar came to her aid, but started chatting with Tsukiko, who offered to set up an interview for him with Xykon. Belkar refused (not out of loyalty but rather impulsiveness) and threw Mr. Scruffy at her, which incapacitated her. This gives Belkar and Haley enough time to escape through a secret door, thus losing Tsukiko.

Tsukiko is later seen in a few comics, mainly helping entertain Xykon, herself and others.

She happily aided Xykon at Redcloak's behest when Xykon did battle with the Soul Spliced Vaarsuvius. With the battle 'apparently' won she retires for evening. When the battle later turns into a fiasco Xykon did nothing to berate her for leaving early, more focused on Redcloak's hand in the loss of the holy symbol meant to house Xykon's soul. Tsukiko happily pointe out the loss of Redcloak's eye. While Tsukiko was kept in the dark about Team Evil's true goals, Xykon by default included her in his order for his entourage to be ready to teleport to their next target within two rounds of finding the holy symbol.

Tsukiko eventually discovered that Redcloak was planning on betraying Xykon by giving The Dark One power over the Snarl instead of him and was subsquently killed and eaten by her own wights when Redcloak took control of them, which were later disposed of by Redcloak.

Looks and Appearance

Tsukiko wearing her pajamas in #653: Fun while it lasted

Tsukiko was a young human woman, perhaps even a teenager, although her exact age was unknown. Her most unique feature was her eyes - one light blue and one dark blue, which represented her ability to cast both arcane and divine spells, the core ability of the mystic theurge class. Strangely enough, the colors seem to be inconsistent - the eyes sometimes swap colors. She had black hair which she always wore in a pair of pigtails, and she wore a gothic, torn black dress and black boots. In OOTS 653 Tsukiko was shown in a babydoll, and slippers that match the colors of her eyes. She also carried what appeared to be a Xykon plushie.